topic Re: I don't understand "miles" or "points" (CSP and United) in Credit Cards

I don't understand "miles" or "points" (CSP and United)

clocktick — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 16:25:05 GMT

I would like to apply for the CSP or new United Explorer card because we tend to mostly fly United. When you earn "miles" or "points" - what exactly does this mean? I don't really get how it equates to airline reservations?

https://www.chase.com/online/Credit-Cards/Sapphire.htm?CELL=6154&BT=SapphireArt

Say I get the 40k points from the CSP, how does that translate to $500 in travel rewards?

Would a CSP or United card be better for someone like me, who almost always flies United?

Thanks in advance.

Re: I don't understand "miles" or "points" (CSP and United)

haulingthescoreup — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 16:33:08 GMT

Humbling following along on this one, because the part of my brain that is supposed to be able to understand points and miles has never worked.

Re: I don't understand "miles" or "points" (CSP and United)

LS2982 — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 16:36:33 GMT

@haulingthescoreup wrote:
Humbling following along on this one, because the part of my brain that is supposed to be able to understand points and miles has never worked.

Re: I don't understand "miles" or "points" (CSP and United)

Open123 — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 16:42:14 GMT

@clocktick wrote:
I would like to apply for the CSP or new United Explorer card because we tend to mostly fly United. When you earn "miles" or "points" - what exactly does this mean? I don't really get how it equates to airline reservations?

https://www.chase.com/online/Credit-Cards/Sapphire.htm?CELL=6154&BT=SapphireArt

Say I get the 40k points from the CSP, how does that translate to $500 in travel rewards?

Would a CSP or United card be better for someone like me, who almost always flies United?

Thanks in advance.

Hi Clocktick:

With Chase's UR Rewards, here's the best way to do it when flying with UA.

Apply for the UA Explorer (1st year fee waived, and 50k bonus on first charge - no spend requirement), and CSP (use the 50k promo link before April 3rd by 10 a.m. eastern time). I applied for both within 30 days and both were instantly approved. I spoke with Chase and they assured me there's no "30 day" rule between application. As always - YMMV may vary on this.

Here's what you do. Meet the spend requirement on your CSP. You'll have approx 53K - 55K UR points depending on what your spending was on since there's 2X on travel and dining. When your points posts, move them to your UA mileage plus account.

This should give you about 100,000 - 105,000 UA miles. With the Explorer card, there's no blackout dates since you're considered an "Elite" member. You have two options to redeem:

1. For 100,000 miles, you can redeem just about any "standard" business class flight wherever UA/Continental flies. If you search for offpeak when both a business class and first class seat is available on the same flight, you can redeem first class for an extra 20,000 miles. So, you can actually redeem for a first class flight to Asia for 120,000 miles, which is worth around $4K usd, give or take.

2. UA is a Star Alliance member, and you can use the UA miles to redeem any flights through the Star Alliance network. The best values are off peak business class flights to Europe or Asia. For example, if you find a nice deal on ANA to Tokyo, you can use your UA miles to purchase the ticket on ANA through Alliance. Some great deals can be had if you're vigilant and opportunistic.

That's basically it.

If you redeem this way, the value received will far exceed the $1,000 in cash equivalent for the rewards accrued.

Re: I don't understand "miles" or "points" (CSP and United)

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 16:42:54 GMT

@LS2982 wrote:
@haulingthescoreup wrote:
Humbling following along on this one, because the part of my brain that is supposed to be able to understand points and miles has never worked.
+1

I'm earning points on my Amex Green that I intend to put towards travel later this year, and I've never done this before. This will be a learning experience for me. I hope someone here can help us all to understand!

Re: I don't understand "miles" or "points" (CSP and United)

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 16:47:19 GMT

I hit the "Post" button a second or two after you did, Open. Thanks for the detailed post. I hope that this helps the OP get the most bang for the buck out of the United card.

Re: I don't understand "miles" or "points" (CSP and United)

LS2982 — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 16:49:21 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@LS2982 wrote:
@haulingthescoreup wrote:
Humbling following along on this one, because the part of my brain that is supposed to be able to understand points and miles has never worked.
+1

+2

I'm earning points on my Amex Green that I intend to put towards travel later this year, and I've never done this before. This will be a learning experience for me. I hope someone here can help us all to understand!

If I get green a year from now can all of the points I have from Zync convert to the full MR points to green?

Re: I don't understand "miles" or "points" (CSP and United)

Open123 — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 16:50:08 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@LS2982 wrote:
@haulingthescoreup wrote:
Humbling following along on this one, because the part of my brain that is supposed to be able to understand points and miles has never worked.
+1

+2

I'm earning points on my Amex Green that I intend to put towards travel later this year, and I've never done this before. This will be a learning experience for me. I hope someone here can help us all to understand!

For flights, MR points are even better since you can move them to any airline on the MR network on demand. Also, there are times when you receive a bonus when transferring, such as 50% etc...

This way, you only move them when you spot a great deal. The points aren't captive and never expire.

Re: I don't understand "miles" or "points" (CSP and United)

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 16:51:30 GMT

@Open123 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@LS2982 wrote:
@haulingthescoreup wrote:
Humbling following along on this one, because the part of my brain that is supposed to be able to understand points and miles has never worked.
+1

+2

I'm earning points on my Amex Green that I intend to put towards travel later this year, and I've never done this before. This will be a learning experience for me. I hope someone here can help us all to understand!
For flights, MR points are even better since you can move them to any airline on the MR network on demand. Also, there are times when you receive a bonus when transferring, such as 50% etc...

This way, you only move them when you spot a great deal. The points aren't captive and never expire.

Thank you!

Re: I don't understand "miles" or "points" (CSP and United)

clocktick — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 17:00:31 GMT

Thank you, Open123.

So it seems as if it's a better deal to use for foreign travel vs. domestic? Also, can these points always transfer back and forth to each other? Do either set of points ever expire? Lastly, I assume I have to book a flight through a Chase site to redeem? Oh, and I already have the Freedom - would that deter me from getting 2 more Chase cards?

Re: I don't understand "miles" or "points" (CSP and United)

Open123 — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 17:12:52 GMT

@clocktick wrote:
So it seems as if it's a better deal to use for foreign travel vs. domestic? Also, can these points always transfer back and forth to each other? Do either set of points ever expire? Lastly, I assume I have to book a flight through a Chase site to redeem? Oh, and I already have the Freedom - would that deter me from getting 2 more Chase cards?

Yes, it is always a better value to redeem for business class and up for international travel. Redeem for coach or domestic flights is very unspectacular. I would pay to flight domestic, but redeem to fly int'l business or first class.

No, once you transfer them to the airline--UA--in this case, they can't be transferred back. So, don't transfer them from the UR program until you're ready and certain what kind of flight you'd like to redeem for on UA. The points will never expired if you have some activity during any 18 month span. In essence, they will never expire.

You could book through Chase, but it's a better value to transfer the books and redeem directly through the airline. Booking through Chase won't give you UA's special deals when redeeming for business class off peak flights. You don't want to pay, but to exchange for points for the flight. Points have a value that isn't related to currency. This value fluctuates depending on when and what sort of flights you redeem. It could be worth $1 cent per point, or as high as $6 cents per point. But, always move the points first, and redeem from the airline itself for maximum value.

I'm not sure how many chase cards they allow. I'd imagine with a good relationship, 3 should be fine. They didn't seem to have any issues with my apping for both within a two week span. They even acted as if it weren't anything out of the ordinary.

Re: I don't understand "miles" or "points" (CSP and United)

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:18:17 GMT

Clocktick I think open gave a great explanation on points vs miles vs cashback and the best value you can get.

One other thing left out here is are you an elite member on United? At least premier silver? If so then I would skip the UA Explorer and get the Sapphire preferred instead. The only thing the explorer card has over the CSP is the perks, but if you are elite you get the free bag and priority boarding anyway, and the CSP has a better mileage earning rate than the UA card. 2X points on travel and dining plus 7% point bonus. Both have the same annual fee.

Re: I don't understand "miles" or "points" (CSP and United)

Open123 — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 18:02:13 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
One other thing left out here is are you an elite member on United? At least premier silver? If so then I would skip the UA Explorer and get the Sapphire preferred instead. The only thing the explorer card has over the CSP is the perks, but if you are elite you get the free bag and priority boarding anyway, and the CSP has a better mileage earning rate than the UA card. 2X points on travel and dining plus 7% point bonus. Both have the same annual fee.

Yes, once you get the 50k miles from the UA card on the first swipe, the CSP is definitely the card to keep.

This will give you a nice total of 100k UA miles. Business class flight to just about anywhere is a nice treat.